How Hong Kong Does Halloween

Check Out These Killer Costumes, Straight From Hong Kong

Bust out your ghost detection kits, EMF readers, and zombie hatchets...Oh, and get ready to pick your jaw off the floor as Hong Kong's finest Halloweeners show the world how to trick and treat in style. While Halloween is primarily a Western holiday — with U.S. citizens doing the majority of zombie-chasing, candy-rustling, and witch-hunting — Hong Kong has set a seriously high bar for gory, detailed costumes. The "Pearl of the Orient," as Hong Kong is known, sees a dramatic annual display of dazzling prosthetics, professional-grade makeup effects, thoughtful props, and fantasy apparel plucked straight from our dreams (or nightmares).

Bringing a bit of history into the equation: Given Hong Kong's history as a British colony, there's an interesting bit of cultural melding evidenced on the streets each Halloween. Perhaps it's this background, or modern-day globalization, that's behind many of the costumes we're seeing (and loving)...Think: signature Eastern flavor with good old Western creepiness. To sum it all up in one word: ambitious.

There are a slew of popular Halloween celebrations held across the city each year. One of the biggest? Disney Haunted Horror Night, where everyday partygoers mingle among truly frightening zombies, ghosts, vampires, and other monstrosities. Frankly, we think the photos are pretty incredible. Go ahead, flip through...Just don't look behind you!